


better late

by Radio Rascal (Vagrants)



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Ghosts, M/M, Post-Canon, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22178269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vagrants/pseuds/Radio%20Rascal
Summary: Optimus Prime pays a visit to an old friend to have an important conversation.
Relationships: Megatron/Optimus Prime
Comments: 2
Kudos: 64
Collections: MegOP Week 2020





	better late

**Author's Note:**

> this is a sequel to the first MegOP Week fic i posted on the 5th. i do not believe it is necessary to read that one to understand this, though.

Ever since he turned his mind away from the Well and began interacting again with the world of the living, Optimus knew who he wanted to see. For a while he resisted the urge, telling himself he should be content to let things lie, to let it end the way it ended, but after a time he could no longer fight it. He tried to look for necessity, a good reason, or even just an excuse, but his desire was so strong it became a need. There couldn’t be so much harm in it, he thought.

Being part of the Allspark itself meant he could travel anywhere in an instant, and it took him mere moments to focus upon his destination. Soon he was there. It was dark and cramped; a cave on Cybertron, located as far from the new city-states as possible.

Megatron was resting against the wall, his optics half-closed but glowing bright in the shadows. His legs were stretched in front of him and his hands were folded over his abdomen. He’d had a frame change since Optimus last saw him; this one was more streamlined and less pointed, nowhere near as monstrous as the one Unicron granted him, but still unmistakably himself. In his half-sleeping state he looked calm, though he frowned lightly, as though his mind was considering delving into a bad dream.

Optimus studied him for a few long moments, becoming absorbed in the moment. This was as close and as quiet as they’d been in forever and he wondered if he even needed to break the silence. Wasn’t this all he came for?

He thought so, but he didn’t want to go. Stepping forward, he leaned down to place himself in Megatron’s vision. “What brought you to this place?”

To his surprise, Megatron looked at him blandly, as though his visit were expected. “Where else was I supposed to go?”

“You could go back. You could help rebuild.”

“They would not accept me.”

“Perhaps not at first, but once you’ve proven that you’ve changed…”

“They would not believe it,” Megatron snapped. “I’m surprised you believed it so readily.”

“Well…” Optimus sighed and sat down next to him. “Fine. I know there would be problems, and I didn’t come here to argue you into doing something you don’t want to do.”

“Why are you here, then?”

“I’ve seen everyone else. I hadn’t seen you yet. Apparently nobody has, in all this time.”

“That’s true.”

“What do you do out here?”

Megatron shrugged, sending the tip of one shoulder through Optimus’s ephemeral body. He didn’t realize he was sitting so close and moved back. “I scavenge, I sightsee, I keep to myself and leave no trace of my presence.”

“Isn’t it lonely?”

“Of course, but I want to be alone. Maybe that will change later, but right now, I’m content.”

“I have one more question. Why aren’t you surprised at my appearance?”

“I was brought back from the dead myself. Honestly, I’m only shocked it took you so long.”

“The Allspark has an odd way of doing things…”

There was so much between them, so much that could be said, but they fell quiet. It didn’t feel bad to sit next to him in silence again, and it was just as well, because all the thoughts were buzzing in Optimus’s processor so loudly that he could not have singled one out to speak anyway.

Megatron broke the silence. “You should go. I’m sure you have more important things to do out there.”

“Not really.” Optimus could sense something was going on inside Megatron’s head, by the way he tensed and tightened his claws. “Why do you say that? I don’t believe you really want me to go.”

Megatron shifted, pushing himself straight against the cave wall and shoving his claws against the ground. He didn’t meet Optimus’s optics as he said, “I suppose I don’t lose anything by telling you, but it isn’t easy.”

“Take your time. That’s all either of us have.”

“Yes…” He looked thoughtful for a while. It took him a couple minutes to work up the nerve to speak, and Optimus stayed quiet and patient the entire time. “I...never had a name on my spark chamber.”

“Oh?”

“I was forged without one, and it never appeared later in life...until more recently.” He shifted around uncomfortably. “I noticed it after I began my current way of life, but it must have been because of Unicron. I changed so much that the name of my intended was finally ready to appear.” Finally, he lifted his optics, but they were angry. “After millions of years of loneliness and confusion, I’ve finally heard the punchline to the joke that is my existence.  _ Optimus Prime _ .”

For a second, he was confused over the sudden utterance of his name. There was a part of him that was too astonished to accept what Megatron had really said, so he couldn’t even consider it. He wanted it too badly; so, surely, he must have misunderstood, or heard the words wrongly. This couldn’t be happening, not after so long, not after everything...not now that he was like this.

“You see now,” Megatron growled, looking the other way and dragging his claws noisily against the metal ground. He wanted to lash out, to throw a tantrum, but he was controlling himself. “You see why I don’t want you around.”

“I understand,” Optimus said. His processor was still whirling.

“It’s not even because you’re dead,” Megatron went on. “It’s because I’m not yours.”

“What?”

“Remember, in the crystal garden? You told me you hadn’t met the bearer of the name on your chamber.”

Optimus smiled sadly and sighed. “Megatron…”

“What?!”

“Megatron...that is the name I carried.”

His optics widened. “ _ What _ ?”

“When I met Megatronus, I was puzzled. It was so similar that for a time I thought I had somehow accidentally removed the final two letters. I was still uncertain so I never said anything. When you changed your name, it made more sense...but you had told me you hadn’t yet met the bearer of the name on your chamber. After I became Optimus Prime, things moved too quickly for me to bring it up again, and then we were fighting.”

Megatron was shaking his head. “No. It can’t be that...stupid.”

“It can, and it is.” Optimus laughed. It was funny, for some reason. “I’d heard legends of people whose names didn’t match, so I assumed that’s what happened, when really all I needed to do was wait—wait to meet this version of you.”

“If only,” Megatron started, and those words were heavy enough on their own, so he repeated them, slowly and brokenly, “If only.”

Optimus nodded. He lifted a hand and pretended to rest it upon Megatron’s shoulder. It was a selfish comfort that benefitted neither of them, and only reminded him of what couldn’t be. “I have to leave, but I’ll be back.”

“Of course.”

“I want to see you again. I want you to continue doing what you’re doing.”

Megatron gave him a puzzled look.

“Just listen to me.” Optimus couldn’t beg him to stay alive. Optimus couldn’t remove the dark little idea that he knew had planted itself in Megatron’s processor—so he had to make it sound grand and mystical something over which he had no control. “It’s important you stay alive, so be careful out here on your own.”

“I will,” Megatron said. “When will you be back?”

“I don’t know,” Optimus said. “I have surprisingly little control over this. I promise you won’t be alone for so long again.”

Megatron stared at him. He must have been fading. “Thank you for seeing me. It doesn’t seem like it, but I’m...overjoyed to see you again.”

“Then do me a favor and smile for me. I understand if it’s hard to be happy, but I would for that to be the last thing I see before I  _ sleep _ again.”

He did, and it was very different than what Optimus remembered, but still filled him with a brightness, an energy he couldn’t explain. Optimus let go of the world and returned to the Well, at peace with what he’d learned but nowhere near close to eternal rest. Even though he was dead, there was still much to do. His journey had not ended, and neither had Megatron’s. There was still somewhere for them to go, and finally, they could go together.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading.


End file.
